Gallery House seek to blend the promotion of the heritage site it occupies and the needs of the family with a new structure that attempts to connect its past and the legacy of its previous resident. An ode to Chen Wen Hsi.  

Site

5 Kingsmead Road is the only private residence in Singapore marked as a historical site. It was the former residence of pioneer artist, Chen Wen Hsi where he occupied till 1991. While the house was left vacant, changed hand and largely modified, a pair of wall murals by the artist on both sides of his front porch wall have survived, faithfully protected and passed on to the current owner. 

Plan

The old house had to be rebuilt to meet the needs of the new family with the mural wall extracted and  relocated within the new design. The historical significance of the site, the new owner’s wish to continue the custodianship and making the mural more accessible to the public were central in shaping the design from the start.   

Part Gallery/Part House

The initial obligation soon germinate into a passion for Chen Wen Hsi and the works of fellow early Nanyang Artists. The private house also took on a public nature when it is imagined to be a depository, exhibition and theatre space for the active promotion of the heritage site. Chen Wen Hsi’s work are often inspired by the nature he observed around him.  We envisioned a house that could continue this engagement with nature and with Wen Hsi’s paintings.     

Form

A restrained architectural palette and simple geometrical form of lines and planes were opted to showcase the landmark mural. A large, central courtyard and two smaller ones punctuate the heart of the house and its basement, allowing nature to bleed into the interior. The glazed courtyards create a multitude of sightlines, reflection and juxtaposition, blurring and conflating the space inhibited by Wen Hsi’s gibbons. The perforated screen that draped the entire upper floor traced and inverted a figure-ground abstraction of the canopies of the tree-lined street.